Improvement in fare-boxes



W. H. HORNUM. F are-Box.

No. 214,661. v Patentd April 22,1879.

N, FETERS. FHOTO Lfl'NOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D. C

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. HORNUM,

OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

' IMPROVEMENT IN FARE-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 214.661, dated April 2-2, 1879; application filed February 5, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. HORNUM, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fare-Boxes, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawin in whichv Figure 1 represents a front view of my box applied to a car. Fi g. 2 is a vertical cross-section thereof on a larger scale than in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front view of the same, partly in section. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section thereof, showing the positions of the parts when the money drawer is removed.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

My'invention relates to fare-boxes for rail road-cars, omnibuses, and other public conveyances, and is especially'adapted to that class of boxes in which the fare-money is received upon a tilting platform, and thereby deposited in amoneydrawer arranged beneath the platform.

It consists in the combination, with the tilting platform and money-drawer of a fare-box, of a hook or catch fixed on the platform and operated by the same rod which serves to tilt the platform, said hook or catch being constructed and arranged so as to engage with the money-drawer when the platform is in a horizontal or normal position, so that the drawer is prevented from being removed except when the platform is tilted; also, in the combination, with a fare box, of a moneydrawer having two compartments, one of which is open to receive the fare-money, while the other or secondary compartment is closed, but communicates with the open or main compartment, an d is arranged to receive any money contained in the main compartment when the drawer is tilted out of a normal or vertical position, and fastening devices whereby the money-drawer is not only held in the fare-box, but is caused to be tilted during its introduction or removal, so that the fare-money is rendered inaccessible to an unauthorized person when the drawer is removed 5 further, in the combination, with the money-drawer, of devices'whereby the money-drawer is caused to be agitated or shaken during its introduction to or removal. from the fare-box, so that if any money is caught in the corner or niches of the drawer it is dislodged before the drawer is removed.

It also consists in certain details of construction.

In the drawings, the letter A designates a fare-box constructed to be' fastened to a car, and in which is mounted a tiltingplatform,13, upon which the fareanoney is deposited through an aperture, a, the platform being operated by a rod, 1), and the walls of the box being made transparent immediately above the platform to render visible the money dropped thereon and O is a money-drawer, into which the faremoney falls when the platformis tilted.

One of the conditions essential to the safety of a fare-box is it must be of such a nature that the money-drawer cannot be removed except when the platform is tilted, in order that no fare-money may be left upon the platform when the drawer is removed to be afterward appropriated by the driver. To this end I arange the platform 13 to engage the moneydrawer 0 when the platform is in a horizontal or normal position, and I employ for this purpose two hooks, c (I, one of which is formed on the platform 0 concentrically to the axis,

upon which it swings and projects in the direction of the rear of the box, while the other hook is secured to the upper edge of the drawer at right angles to the first-named hook, and at such a point that the two hooks arcintertwined when the platform is in a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 2, but are disengaged when the platform is tilted.

In the fare-boxes now generally used the money-drawer is left open when removed from the box, so that its contents are accessible to the person whose duty it is to remove the drawer from the box in a car and carry the same to the office of the company. To overcome this disadvantage I construct the moneydrawer with a main or receiving compartment, 1), and a secondary or safety compartment, E, two. chutes, 0 0 extending in reverse directions, being used for this purpose. .The chute 0 opens on the top of the money-drawer, and is arranged in such relation to the platformB that the farewnoney falling from the platform is received therein, and thereby conducted to the main compartment D, while the chute c serves to establish a communication between the secondary compartment E and the main compartment D.

The secondary compartment E is closed, but is accessible to an authorized person through a door, 6, which is locked except during the time the money-drawer is emptied. It will be seen that if the money-drawer is tilted outward until it is brought to an illverted position, when it is removed from the fare-box, as shown in Fig. 4, any money contained in the main compartment D passes into the secondary compartment E, where it is inaccessible to any but an authorized person. To insure the retention of the money in the secondary compartment E, I combine with the chute c a gravitating gate, f.

The successful operation of the money drawer 0 being thus conditional or dependent upon its being tilted, I so construct the fastening devices by which the drawer is attached to the fare-box that by means thereof it is made imperative to tilt the drawer during its introduction and removal to and from the box. These fastening devices consist of hooks g, which are secured to the front of the moneydrawer in such a manner that they project upward, and of a crossbar, h, secured to the front part of the fare-box, so that the hooks are permitted to catch over or to be disengaged from the cross-bar only when the moneydrawer is in an inverted position, as clearly shown.

In this connection it may be remarked that by a slight modification in the arrangement of the compartments D E of the moneydrawer a like result can be produced, as, when the drawer is inverted, by tilting the latter to a position between its vertical or normal position'and an inverted position.

In some cases the fare-money deposited in the drawer of a fare-box is liable to be caught in the corners or niches of the drawer, and for the purpose of dislodging the same I arrange the drawer O to be shaken during its removal from the box, as well as during its introduction thereto, and employ for this purpose slotted plates F, Figs. 3 and 4., which are secured to the interior of the sides of the fare-box near its bottom, and whose slots are of zigzag shape, and extend upward and outward in connection with pins t, which are secured to the exterior of the sides of the drawer, and are fitted in the slots of the plate. To admit the drawer O to the fare-box, the pins 45 must be inserted in the open ends of the plates F, and then made to traverse the slots by moving the drawer in the proper direction until the pins reach the lower ends of the slots, while to remove the drawer the pins must traverse a like path in a reverse direction; and since the slots are of zigzag shape,

the drawer is caused to be moved or jolted inward and outward.

The primary object of the slotted plates F and pins z is to produce a jolting or vibration of the money-drawer C; but by their arrangement they also cause the drawer to be tilted to some extent, and moreover perform the functions of fastening devices for holding the drawer in the box.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the tilting platform and money-drawer of a fare-box, of a hook or catch fixed on the platform, and operated by the same rod which serves to tilt the platform, said hook or catch engaging with the money-drawer when the platform is in a horizontal or normal position, and to release said drawer when the platform is tilted, substan tially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination, ina fare-box, of a moneydrawer having two compartments, one of which is open to receive the fare-money, while the other or secondary compartment is closed, but communicates with. said open or main compartment, and is adapted to receive any money contained in the main compartment when the drawer is tilted out of a vertical or normal position, and devices, essentially such as described, for fastening the money-drawer, so constructed that the latter is thereby caused to be tilted during its introduction to or removal from the box, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with the money-drawer of a fare-box, of devices, essentially such as described, whereby the drawer is caused to be jolted or shaken during its introduction to or removal from the box, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination, with the platform B and drawers 0, of the hooks c d, arranged substantiall y as shown and described.

5. The combination, with the box A and drawer O, of the hooks g and the cross-bar h, arranged substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination, with the box A and drawer O, of the slotted plates F and pins z, arranged substantially as shownand described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 1st day of February, 1879.

WILLIAM H. HORNUM.

Witnesses:

E. F. KASTENHUBER, OHAs. WAHLERS. 

